What's Wrong With the 2013 Defense?

[buckeye4ever21]

I think the problem is pretty clear: just a plain lack of talent/depth in the back 7, especially at the S position. Injuries, poor recruiting by the previous regime and the high number of transfers have all combined to make for a pretty disastrous situation. I am not the biggest fan of LF, but it's hard to fault the scheme/coaching when the two-deep is this bad and the first two UFM recruiting classes are still getting acclimated to the college game. Is this a championship defense right now? No way. Do I believe it will be in a year or two when some of the new guys develop? Absolutely.

In the meantime, we are just going to have to hope the offense continues to operate like a buzzsaw.

With 2 elite DE's and amazing DL as a whole, the best LBer in the big ten, and 2 really good corners, you can't argue talent. Honestly talent at OSU is rarely an issue, the depth at LB is the only thing suspect. The way we recruit, we are rarely lined up against a team with more talent man for man. You can argue it on the 2 deep but you can also make that argue net for any team. The scheme in the 1st 7 games was horrible. It's been better over the past 3 games but I actually think the focus off of this bye week wasn't the greatest and that was stated by a few people after the game.

 

[OHSportsFan]

This defense gave up as many points to Illinois as the basketball team did to Marquette. I guess that is saying something and it is not good.

Noticed that yesterday at the game.

If Hyde hadn't busted that last long TD, we were looking at 53-35 on the gridiron and 52-35 on the hardwood as winning scores for our Buckeyes. Crazy.

 

[Taosman]

Washington has not been his self the whole season. It may take a month of rest for him to get completely healthy. If he could get close to 100% for the Bowl game that would be great but I have my doubts.

 

[kujirakira]

My guess is that Ohio State will fall on the computers, which include metrics related to that poor defensive showing and discount late touchdowns from leading teams.

The BCS computers don't take any such things into account. They're not allowed to use the scoreline at all since many years ago.

 

[SEREbuckeye]

Just my thoughts on yesterday.

I loved the schemes the coaches drew up. They were seemingly in the backfield the entire game. I think the consistent sacks and pressure on the QB allowed the DBs to rest a little bit, and allowed the WRs to slip open for big gains. The plays have changed in the last few weeks, using less zone coverage. The coaches are in a difficult position IMO. You call a zone because you aren't sure your DBs are able to cover the field, but it allows a lot of short yardage stuff. You then start calling man or blitzes and then your DBs tend to get abused because they aren't as talented as we want them to be.

Yesterday was admitted to by both the coaches and the players that the focus wasn't on the game at hand, but the national picture. It was Hyde or Miller that said they got too comfortable with the early lead.

Hunt the good stuff: 6 sacks, 2 picks, 1 pick-six, a safety (that could have been a TD), no rusher over 70 yards, and forced 8 punts.

 

[HorseshoeFetish]

Bama on the other hand could slow down our inside running game

force us to throw.

Do we have a serious problem throwing that I missed or something?

 

[scarletngray]

Our D was missing four starters: Bryant, Grant, Perry, and Bosa (1/2 of the game). The back 7 was especially weakened due to injuries. Heck, we had a walk-on at MLB. What was worst is that we got up by 28 pts and I think the D went on cruise control and were never really able to get their mojo back.

This was definitely a disappointing performance. Hopefully our guys will get healthy and it will be a learning experience for the team to never let off the gas until the final tick on the clock.

 

[HorseshoeFetish]

Our D was missing four starters: Bryant, Grant, Perry, and Bosa (1/2 of the game). The back 7 was especially weakened due to injuries. Heck, we had a walk-on at MLB. What was worst is that we got up by 28 pts and I think the D went on cruise control and were never really able to get their mojo back.

This was definitely a disappointing performance. Hopefully our guys will get healthy and it will be a learning experience for the team to never let off the gas until the final tick on the clock.

They better. It's Indiana week. I can't even imagine what would happen in this town if those pumpkins start coming out of the woodwork.

 

[BuckeyefromPitt]

With 2 elite DE's and amazing DL as a whole, the best LBer in the big ten, and 2 really good corners, you can't argue talent. Honestly talent at OSU is rarely an issue, the depth at LB is the only thing suspect. The way we recruit, we are rarely lined up against a team with more talent man for man. You can argue it on the 2 deep but you can also make that argue net for any team. The scheme in the 1st 7 games was horrible. It's been better over the past 3 games but I actually think the focus off of this bye week wasn't the greatest and that was stated by a few people after the game.

The corners are good but not great and they've struggled with consistency - I think we all saw the Wisconsin debacle. The safeties are bad. Really really bad and the loss of Bryant has made a bad situation worse. They're deficiencies limit what can be done in other areas of the defense. They also don't help the CBs. Shazier is good, but his game is definitely not without flaws and the other LBs certainly have issues as well. I like Curtis Grant a lot, but he is bad in open space. In fact, no LB on the team can really defend a pass. The DL is definitely the lone bright spot. I don't think there is any dispute that their collective play has kept the entire unit afloat. But they are young and I think it's pretty clear the scheme had to be adjusted somewhat while they get a better feel for the game.

You're 100% correct that there are talented people on this team, particularly on the DL and at the CB position to a degree. But depth across the entire unit is generally poor (especially at LB and S) and the holes that exist are getting exposed. My knowledge of defensive "schemes" is pretty basic, but it's pretty easy to tell that a lot of the people they have out there have serious limitations. UFM even said something prior to the Illinois game about how they've increased the number of blitzes to essentially compensate for other issues. It will get better, but right now this defense has the unfortunate mix of (1) older, not-so-talented guys and (2) young players who are still adjusting to the game. It's a bad fit but it's going to get better.

 

[kujirakira]

I actually feel like Doran is the best cover corner on the team. Whenever I see him, he's on his guy like glue... and it seems like passes rarely get completed in his direction. Teams just don't seem to throw his way. Or at least that's my impression so far...
Roby is a playmaker and absolutely brutal against the run... I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up as a Safety in the NFL ala Malcolm Jenkins. But he regularly gets beat in man coverage. Nonetheless he flies around the field like a terror when he doesn't have to man up against a receiver. If we had more depth at Corner, I'd kill to see him move over to Safety where his average cover skills would be better than Brown or Barnett, and he can flow to the ball as a hard hitting safety.

 

[Onebuckfan]

Roby wants to make the Big play..and when it happens its great, I like my corners to make the sound play and stop a drive, tackle, cover so your line can sack.

 

[Yertle]

Right now... A LOT. Looks like Penn State and Purdue were a myth...

Exactly.

 

[buckeyebri]

I actually feel like Doran is the best cover corner on the team. Whenever I see him, he's on his guy like glue... and it seems like passes rarely get completed in his direction. Teams just don't seem to throw his way. Or at least that's my impression so far...
Roby is a playmaker and absolutely brutal against the run... I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up as a Safety in the NFL ala Malcolm Jenkins. But he regularly gets beat in man coverage. Nonetheless he flies around the field like a terror when he doesn't have to man up against a receiver. If we had more depth at Corner, I'd kill to see him move over to Safety where his average cover skills would be better than Brown or Bennet, and he can flow to the ball as a hard hitting safety.

I agree with you that Doran is the best cover corner that we have at this point. It would be interesting to see Roby and Barnett at safety as you suggest. My fear is that would most likely put AR at the corner spot and that has been a struggle so far this year.

 

[Bestbuck36]

I think Roby tries to use his recover speed too much and bait the QB into throwing his way. He doesnt have the help this year like he did in the past and now he's out of position a lot and not making the play on the ball. Roby just needs to do his job and have faith in the other guys to do theirs. I just don't think they have a lot of faith in each other right now without CB back there. That's where that leadership is lacking and killing us in the defensive back 7. We don't have that guy to keep reminding everyone to just "keep plugging and do their job." Leadership is an undervalued commodity in athletics.

 

[MaxBuck]

Roby wants to make the Big play..and when it happens its great, I like my corners to make the sound play and stop a drive, tackle, cover so your line can sack.

I think Roby subconsciously feels obligated to "live up to" his preseason AA status and has therefore not been as disciplined in his approach this season. But I still think he'll be a great pro; he's as physically gifted a defensive back as I've seen at Ohio State since Jack Tatum.